A Lesson in Evangelism
I was spending an awful lot of time reading books about the Bible. I thought this would increase my understanding of the Bible, and consequently, of the Lord.But no, the truth is that my knowledge of the Lord comes from reading the Bible alone. It is indeed feasible, certainly possible, to grow deeper in my relationship with Him while reading SOLELY the Bible.
This morning I continued my long ride through Genesis. In my new "blank" Bible, I cross referenced Hebrews 11:3, where we are told that "by faith" we understand that God created everything by His word, and nothing came out of anything that existed previously. Reading the Hebrews verse, I couldn't help but wonder how one can worship the Lord and claim evolution as the vehicle for the creation of all life forms.
Another striking note is that the Lord USES the means He has established to fulfill His purposes. This is just who God is. In Genesis 2:5, God has already spoken vegetation into existence. But the means that the Lord has established have not been employed yet -- man to till the ground and rain to water the ground. Because these two are not yet in action, the fruit of the earth has not shown itself yet. But it will. Because the Lord has spoken it as such.
This really struck me as a parallel to what my pastor said in the sermon yesterday about election (his third part of the series on our way through Ephesians). If the elect go to heaven, why must we evangelize (essentially). But he made the assertion that although God has ordained that our stomachs be filled with food in order to calm our hunger, we must still eat.
As one struggling to understand how to share my faith, this has really been used by God to chasten and urge and teach. I am to share because it is the means God has ordained.
But God faithfully reinforced the picture in my mind, and showed me more of His character this morning. He didn't just bring forth fruit from the ground before the man could till it or rain could do its work. He not only ordained the product, but He ordained the process from beginning to end.
Glory be to God. He is so faithful to open our eyes to the truth when we search with all our hearts.
Labels: God's Word, practical theology, redeeming the time, where I am right now
posted by Marcian @ 9:50 AM
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